NEVER
NEVER was a series of events held by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) between August 2010 and November 2012. On July 12, 2010, NJPW officially announced the NEVER project, which was to highlight younger up-and-coming talent and outside wrestlers not signed to the promotion. It was explained that the name of the project was an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal" and "Radical". For the events, NJPW recruited several freelancers as well as wrestlers signed to promotions such as DDT Pro-Wrestling and Kaientai Dojo. Some outsiders who became NEVER regulars included Daisuke Sasaki, Kaji Tomato, Madoka, Ryuichi Sekine and Shinobu. KUSHIDA, who entered NEVER as a representative of the SMASH promotion in February 2011, signed a NJPW contract the following month and returned to the project the following September, now representing NJPW. Three NJPW trainees; Hiromu Takahashi, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu, made their professional wrestling debuts at NEVER events. Takahashi, who debuted at NEVER.1, was the only wrestler who wrestled on all thirteen NEVER events. On October 5, 2012, NJPW announced that NEVER was going to get its own championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship. The title was originally scheduled to be defended exclusively at NEVER events, but this plan was quickly changed and since its foundation, the title has been defended on the undercards of NJPW events. NJPW has not held a single NEVER event since the tournament, which crowned the first NEVER Openweight Champion on November 19, 2012. A second NEVER title, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, was announced on December 21, 2015, with the first champions crowned on January 4, 2016. On July 18, 2015, NJPW announced "Lion's Gate", a project with a theme similar to NEVER, which held its first show on February 25, 2016. NEVER.1 Date: August 24, 2010 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 300 NEVER.2 Date: September 16, 2010 Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan Attendance: 200 NEVER.3 Date: October 8, 2010 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 NEVER.4 Date: November 18, 2010 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 NEVER.5 Date: February 24, 2011 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 350 NEVER.6: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Date: April 7, 2011 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 (Day 1) Date: April 8, 2011 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 300 (Day 2) ;April 7 ;April 8 ;Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament A | RD1-team3 ='Daisuke Sasaki' | RD1-team4 =Shinichiro Tominaga | RD1-score3 =Pin | RD1-score4 = | RD1-team5 ='Tsuyoshi Kikuchi' | RD1-team6 =Ken Ohka | RD1-score5 =Pin | RD1-score6 = | RD1-team7 ='Kazuhiro Tamura' | RD1-team8 =Marines Mask | RD1-score7 =Pin | RD1-score8 = | RD2-team1 =Ryuichi Sekine | RD2-team2 ='Daisuke Sasaki' | RD2-score1 =Pin | RD2-score2 = | RD2-team3 ='Tsuyoshi Kikuchi' | RD2-team4 =Kazuhiro Tamura | RD2-score3 =Pin | RD2-score4 = | RD3-team1 ='Daisuke Sasaki' | RD3-team2 =Tsuyoshi Kikuchi | RD3-score1 =Pin | RD3-score2 = }} ;Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament B | RD1-team3 ='Taichi' | RD1-team4 =Osamu Namiguchi | RD1-score3 =Pin | RD1-score4 = | RD1-team5 ='Madoka' | RD1-team6 =Kazuki Hirata | RD1-score5 =Pin | RD1-score6 = | RD1-team7 ='Shinobu' | RD1-team8 =Kaji Tomato | RD1-score7 =Pin | RD1-score8 = | RD2-team1 =Keisuke Ishii | RD2-team2 ='Taichi' | RD2-score1 =Sub | RD2-score2 = | RD2-team3 ='Madoka' | RD2-team4 =Shinobu | RD2-score3 =Pin | RD2-score4 = | RD3-team1 ='Taichi' | RD3-team2 =Madoka | RD3-score1 =Pin | RD3-score2 = }} NEVER.7: Go to the Next Level Date: September 21, 2011 Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan Attendance: 200 NEVER.8: Go to the Next Level Date: February 10, 2012 Venue: Sekaikan theater - Osaka, Japan Attendance: 220 NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament 1st. Date: April 13, 2012 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 NEVER.9: Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament Final Date: April 13, 2012 Venue: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 ;Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament | RD1-team3 ='Madoka' | RD1-team4 =Kaji Tomato | RD1-score3 =Pin | RD1-score4 = | RD1-team5 =Takaaki Watanabe | RD1-team6 ='Ryuichi Sekine' | RD1-score5 =Pin | RD1-score6 = | RD1-team7 =Yusuke Kodama | RD1-team8 ='Black Tiger' | RD1-score7 =Pin | RD1-score8 = | RD2-team1 =Hiro Tonai | RD2-team2 ='Madoka' | RD2-score1 =Pin | RD2-score2 = | RD2-team3 =Ryuichi Sekine | RD2-team4 ='Black Tiger' | RD2-score3 =Pin | RD2-score4 = | RD3-team1 =Madoka | RD3-team2 ='Black Tiger' | RD3-score1 =Pin | RD3-score2 = }} NEVER: Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament 1st Round Date: November 15, 2012 Venue: Shibuya-Ax - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 250 NEVER: Shodai NEVER Musabetsu Kyu Oza Kettei Tournament Final Date: November 19, 2012 Venue: Shibuya-Ax - Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 300 ;NEVER Openweight Championship tournament | RD1-team03 =Hiromu Takahashi | RD1-team04 ='Shiori Asahi' | RD1-score03=Pin | RD1-score04= | RD1-team05 ='Ryusuke Taguchi' | RD1-team06 =Hiro Tonai | RD1-score05=Pin | RD1-score06= | RD1-team07 =BUSHI | RD1-team08 ='Kengo Mashimo' | RD1-score07=Pin | RD1-score08= | RD1-team09 =KUSHIDA | RD1-team10 ='Masato Tanaka' | RD1-score09=Pin | RD1-score10= | RD1-team11 =Captain New Japan | RD1-team12 ='Taishi Takizawa' | RD1-score11=Pin | RD1-score12= | RD1-team13 ='Tomohiro Ishii' | RD1-team14 =Daisuke Sasaki | RD1-score13=Pin | RD1-score14= | RD1-team15 ='Yoshi-Hashi' | RD1-team16 =Ryuichi Sekine | RD1-score15=Pin | RD1-score16= | RD2-team01 ='Karl Anderson' | RD2-team02 =Shiori Asahi | RD2-score01=Pin | RD2-score02= | RD2-team03 =Ryusuke Taguchi | RD2-team04 ='Kengo Mashimo' | RD2-score03=Sub | RD2-score04= | RD2-team05 ='Masato Tanaka' | RD2-team06 =Taishi Takizawa | RD2-score05=Pin | RD2-score06= | RD2-team07 ='Tomohiro Ishii' | RD2-team08 =Yoshi-Hashi | RD2-score07=Pin | RD2-score08= | RD3-team01 ='Karl Anderson' | RD3-team02 =Kengo Mashimo | RD3-score01=Pin | RD3-score02= | RD3-team03 ='Masato Tanaka' | RD3-team04 =Tomohiro Ishii | RD3-score03=Pin | RD3-score04= | RD4-team01 =Karl Anderson | RD4-team02 ='Masato Tanaka' | RD4-score01=Pin | RD4-score02= }} References Category:Events Category:NJPW Events